North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

My experience is that when left on the tree until the begin to brown they
are like an apple/date combination, a very pleasant fruit.  Store-bought
ones have been flat tasting, less sugar and less acid, no richness - I would
guess due to storage.  The fruit I have tasted fresh was from trees planted
primarily for landscape, probably Lang and Li.  I understand there are some
much better tasting varieties available.  

I've also had dried, which were pleasant.  I suspect you get the best flavor
profile fresh, then as they age they lose flavor, but drying concentrates
what's left.  

In spite of the price, I may buy a small handful from the Coop.  They were
somewhat larger fruit than I've seen before, although still small, and
pear-shaped.  I suspect them to be a better-flavored variety.

Stephen Sadler, Ph.D.
USDA 9, AHS heat zone 8, 
Sacramento CA - Mediterranean climate

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Mark and Piper
Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 5:58 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] rotten or fermented fruit

I found fresh jujube for sale at an asian grocery store in Seattle for $2.60
per pound.  I had never eaten these before, so I bought a bag.  Not what I
expected.  They are a little crisp, not much juice with almost no flavor.
Pleasant, but not very exciting.  They are slowly turning from light yellow
to brown, and I think they are improving.  Maybe they need to get brown all
over before I will like them.  Is this the typical fresh jujube experience,
or did I get a bad batch?
-Mark Lee, Seattle